What We Do

Sticker Shock

In order to make the public aware of the dangers and addictiveness of alcohol, Youth to Youth students often go into stores and apply a variety of warning stickers on six packs, 30-packs, and cases of beer that carry prevention messages about alcohol.

Project Description

Sticker Shock in Action

Some of the stickers have messages that state: “Caution this product is addictive”. Other stickers emphasize the consequences of providing alcohol to minors or offer rewards for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible for providing alcohol to a minor. Another set of stickers emphasizes the consequences of underage drinking; reminding the public that underage drinking is associated with such things as: suicide and depression, sexual assault, unwanted pregnancy, violence, injury and addiction. Some sample stickers are displayed on this page.

Brain Sticker

Often stickers are an element of a broader informational campaign on an issue. For example, as a component of our Fridge Campaign, one sticker reminds parents that the most common source of alcohol for a child’s first drink is stealing it from their own parents or a friend’s parents. Another sticker supported our Brain Campaign, a two-year effort to reinforce the message that alcohol affects all the parts of a teen’s brain (not just the balance and reflex parts that make you a bad driver).

To do sticker shock, we contact the individual stores and get permission to attach the stickers on a given day and time when volunteers are available. In a large store a team might include up to 8+ students plus adult supervision.

Crimeline Sticker

Before we go and do a sticker shock all of our students revive training on how and where to place the stickers. We want to make sure we are placing the stickers neatly and uniformly. We also try to place stickers in the same spot on packaging that is similar. If the stickers are crooked or messy, the stores may be reluctant to have you back to do Sticker Shock again. We also emphasize being considerate of customers.

As a follow-up we recommend sending the store a “thank you” for cooperating with the effort to get positive messages out to the community.

We design our own stickers and have them printed at a print shop specializing in adhesive products. For organizations that don’t want to go through that process, rolls of 1,000 sticker shock stickers are available for purchase from Dover Youth to Youth by going to the Purchase Products page.